We are humans, living on earth. We eat, breath, love and drink. We owe most of our lives and our belongings to the forests, because they are part of us, and they are helping us.The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March the International Day of Forests in 2012 to celebrate and raise awareness of the importance of all types of forests. 


A lot of people depends on forest, 70 million including indigenous communities call this a home. It gives to the humans oxygen, a shelter, jobs, food, water. It’s not really shared, but, by feeding our rivers, forests provide drinking water for almost half of the world's largest cities. Forested watersheds and wetlands provide 75% of the world´s accessible freshwater.  It’s a filter pollution and chemicals, which improves the quality of the water available for human use. ! The soils are conserved, so it’s protecting the communities against floods and produces the rich topsoil needed to grow plants and crops. Human health is linked to forest health: the deforestation increases the risks of diseases for us but also for animals. It was also shown that time spent on forest has a positive benefit on cardiovascular disease respiratory, and mental health. 


The forest is a home for 80% of terrestrial biodiversity. The deforestation of tropical forest loss of as many as 100 species a day, an entire ecosystem. The wildlife population have declined on average by 69% since 1970. And the  amazon forest is the most affected. 


We all know the critical climate situation. The forest is the largest storehouse of carbon after the ocean. It absorbs it and lock it, below ground. So cutting, and damage the forests are release a huge amount of carbon emission that contributes to the climate crisis. The events caused by the climate change are a lot of wildfire, which limits the ability of our forest to regenerate .The climate action is to stop deforestation and restoring forests. Since 1990, we lost 420million of hectare.  What engenders deforestation is also massive crops such as oil palm, soja sauce, wood, paper pulp… It destroyed 70% of tropical forests. 


The international forest day this year is focused on using modern technologies more, to fight against this. This is what we called also, innovation. We can use chemistry of trees and turning in Into biodegradable plastic for example, batteries, new sustainable fashion, materials, and place to work. Innovation and technologies have revolutionized forest monitoring enabling countries to track and report on their forest more effectively ! Countries are encouraged to undertake local, national and international efforts to organize activities involving forests and trees, such as tree planting campaigns. 


Mindsets are changing, we all talk more about this. We need to have hope for the future, because this is our life engaged. Before, forests represented, and took half of the planet space. Now, they only represent 30% of the planet. The fate of the forest is also ours.

Nina is a french volunteer involved in ​The International Day of Forests

​International Happiness Day, celebrated annually on March 20th, serves as a poignant reminder of the significance of happiness and well-being in our lives. In 2024, as the world continues to grapple with various challenges, this day takes on added importance. It offers an opportunity to reflect on the importance of finding joy amidst adversity and fostering a collective spirit of positivity and resilience.

The Pursuit of Happiness:
Happiness is a fundamental human aspiration, transcending cultural, geographical, and socioeconomic boundaries. International Happiness Day underscores the universal desire for contentment and fulfillment. It serves as a reminder that regardless of our circumstances, we all have the capacity to cultivate happiness in our lives through meaningful connections, personal growth, and acts of kindness.

Navigating Challenges with Resilience:
The year 2024 has presented its share of obstacles, from global health crises to economic uncertainties and geopolitical tensions. In the face of such challenges, cultivating resilience becomes paramount. International Happiness Day encourages individuals and communities to adopt a resilient mindset, embracing setbacks as opportunities for growth and finding strength in adversity. It emphasizes the importance of fostering resilience as a cornerstone of lasting happiness.

Promoting Well-Being:
International Happiness Day also highlights the importance of holistic well-being, encompassing physical, mental, and emotional health. It encourages individuals to prioritize self-care and to nurture their overall well-being. Whether through mindfulness practices, regular exercise, or engaging in activities that bring joy, International Happiness Day inspires individuals to take proactive steps towards leading happier and more fulfilling lives.

Celebrating Acts of Kindness:
Acts of kindness have the power to uplift spirits and spread joy far and wide. International Happiness Day encourages individuals to engage in acts of kindness, both big and small, that contribute to the happiness of others. Whether it's offering a helping hand to a neighbor, volunteering in the community, or simply sharing a smile with a stranger, every act of kindness has the potential to make a positive difference in someone's day.
As we celebrate International Happiness Day in 2024, let us embrace the power of joy to uplift and unite us. In the face of challenges, let us cultivate resilience, prioritize well-being, and spread kindness wherever we go. Together, let us create a world where happiness knows no bounds, and where each day is filled with moments of joy, laughter, and gratitude.

World Theatre Day was created in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute known also as the “ITI”. It is celebrated annually on the 27th of March by ITI Centres and the international theatre community.

Every year on the 27th of March, The World Theatre day is celebrated with the theme “Theatre and a Culture of Peace” by the ITI in many and varied ways. It is celebrated as a goal as to promote the theatre in all it is forms across the world, to make people aware of the theatre value, to enable theatrical communities to promote their work on a large scale and to share the joy of theatre with the others.
Each year, an exceptional personality of the theater or a person exceptional heart and mind of another field is invited to share its reflections on theatre and international harmony.
This year, the message’s author is named Jon Fosse. As the World Theatre Day explain it on their website, Jon Fosse is a renowned Norwegian writer born in 1959. He is known for his extensive body of work, which includes plays, novels, poetry collections, essays, children's books, and translations. Fosse's writing style is characterized by minimalism and emotional depth, making him one of the most performed playwrights in the world. In 2023, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his innovative plays and prose that give voice to the unsayable.
For this World Theatre Day 2024, Jon Fosse wanted to show and express the uniqueness of a person and people. He expresses in his message the exceptional difference between humans, it therefore highlights art in the union and comprehension of humans, it states the gifts of art on the understanding of the unknown and the union of opposites.
“Art, good art, manages in its wonderful way to combine the utterly unique with the universal. It lets us understand what is different—what is foreign, you might say—as being universal. By doing so, art breaks through the boundaries between languages, geographical regions, countries. It brings together not just everyone’s individual qualities but also, in another sense, the individual characteristics of every group of people, for example of every nation.”
“I have been speaking here about art in general, not about theater or playwriting in particular, but that is because, as I’ve said, all good art, deep down, revolves around the same thing: taking the utterly unique, the utterly specific, and making it universal. Uniting the particular with the universal by means of expressing it artistically: not eliminating its specificity but emphasizing this specificity, letting what is foreign and unfamiliar shine clearly through.”
I invite you, for those who will be interested, to visit the site world-theatre-day.org and read the whole message of Jon Fosse for this World Theatre Day 2024.

https://www.world-theatre-day.org/

Mathilde is a french volunteer involved in ​The World Theater Day

On the 21st of February, we celebrate World Poetry Day. The slogan for 2024's Poetry Day intends to remark on the importance of the legacy of many great writers around the world and through time. Our giants. But first, let’s take a look at the history of this poetic day.
UNESCO adopted the 21st of March as World Poetry Day during its 30th General Conference in Paris in 1999, “with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard”.
Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, talks like this about poetry:
"Arranged in words, colored with images, struck with the right meter, the power of poetry has no match. As an intimate form of expression that opens doors to others, poetry enriches the dialogue that catalyzes all human progress, and is more necessary than ever in turbulent times."
UNESCO does several actions to promote poetry and literature in general like the designation of the World Book Capital every year to promote the power of books and the influence of literature in our society. Designated cities should create activities to spread willingness not only to write but to read. The program was established in 2001 and Madrid, the capital of Spain, was the first World Book Capital.
Coming back to the core of this article, the poetry itself, we need to mention what this literary art represents for top writers. Spanish late great Federico García Lorca said about poetry that “it is something that walks around the streets. Something that moves and passes next to us. Everything has a mystery and poetry is the mystery of everything”.
Uruguayan world-class author Mario Benedetti opines the following:
“Because the problem is that: that poetry bites. For being free, questioning, transgressive, questioning, subjective, fanciful, hermetic at times and communicative at others. That's why it bites. And that is why a good part of the public (I mean the one who reads, of course) prefers prose that often contains answers, obeys plans and structures, is usually objective, knows how to organize its fantasies and in general does not bite, especially when they put (or puts on) the muzzle. Even in times of censorship, and given that censors are not usually specialists in metaphors, poetry usually passes through customs with much more grace than prose”.
To finish this article and to give a most personal perspective on poetry, I would like to share with you these humble words:
Poetry is freedom,
poetry is justice,
poetry is love,
but poetry also can be disaffection,
punishment
and a cage of feelings, of ideas.
Poetry is the world in your hand,
your heart and your mind at once.
 
Enjoy poetry.

Mario is a spanish volunteer involved in ​The World Poetry Day

On the 21st of March is the international day for the elimination of racial discrimination.
This year 2024 is the 75st anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. By signing this declaration international community agreed to the value that every human being is equal and should have the same rights, without any distinction of any kind.
 
On the 21st march in 1960 the police in Sharpeville, south Africa killed 69 people at an open fire during a peaceful demonstration against the apartheid “pass laws”. To remember the victims, we observe this day annually.
 
In 1979 the general assembly decided that a week of solidarity with the peoples struggling against racism and racial discrimination, beginning on 21 March, would be organized annually in all States. Through that action the apartheid system in South Africa has been dismantled. However racial discrimination and racist laws are still in some governmental legislations and racist actions are still deeply rooted in our society. This is why the celebration and the worldwide fight for the elimination of racial discrimination continue.
 
Difference between racial discrimination and racism
 
The difference between Racial discrimination and Racism is as follows: Racism is the ideology that attributes personality behavior, morals and worth can be traced back to race, while Racial discrimination is if the race of a person has an effect on any distinction, conduct or action of another one.
 
Importance of the elimination
 
In 2020 George Floyd a black man died through the hands of a white police officer in … This shocking event alarmed people worldwide and the Black-Lives-Matter movement was born. All over the world people went to the streets and demonstrated against racism and racial discrimination.
This shows that Racism is not something in our past still an issue today and it shows the importance of the elimination.
 
When a white person is dressing up and paints their face black it is called Blackfacing. It is an act of discrimination because it assumes that you take black people not seriously and make fun about them.
 
Research by the Pew Research Center analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, in the United States of America, shows that the payment depends on race and gender.
White men are getting paid better than Black and Hispanic men.
 
We fight for equality no matter what skin color, religion, gender or sexuality!
We fight for human right for everyone!

Milena is a german volunteer involved in The International for the elimination of racial discrimination

It’s time for women. On the 8th of March, we celebrate International Women’s Day, but it’s not only about celebrating. It’s about remembering, it’s about realizing and it’s about taking action. Women have been fighting for their rights since more than 150 years ago, when the first wave powerfully arrived to the world and shocked the standards of stagnant society, along with other social and labour movements like the reducing of the working time, in general, and the progressive reduction and elimination of the child’s work.
Also, the date usually taken as the start of this first wave, when the first Women’s Rights Convention took place, occurred in the same year when the European Revolutions shook the political landscape around the Old Continent. This year is 1848.
And still, after all the way we went through, we need to talk about this. Still, we need to fight. The power of the #MeToo movement brought back women’s issues to the main picture and over the last years, we have witnessed incredible mobilizations and a true collective awareness to solve the problem once and forever.
Because of course today women have the right to vote, which was the main demand back during the first wave. Of course, women have reached the same rights as men in a lot of developed countries. But they aren’t done yet. Feminicides and violence against women are still a big scourge for our society. Women also face discrimination in their day-to-day, labour issues and social stigmas. Plus, there are many countries where women do have not the same rights as men. For example, Iran, where is very notorious the recent case of Masha Amini. This tragic case led to big protests in Iran and around the world against the conservative and oppressive Iranian government.
So we need to be proud for all the way we ran and all the rights and social advances achieved, but (there’s always a but) we really need to be aware of the fact that we haven’t completed the road, we (we all, because empowered women mean empowered men) still need to talk, discuss, take action and fight for an equal society, for an equal world.
​And it doesn’t make sense to be patient, there’s no need to wait until 2030. Let’s continue the fight now. The time is now.  Are you ready?

Mario is a spanish volunteer involved in The International Womens Day

Nele is a german volunteer involved in The World Wildlife Day